Chapter Six
Eric
I rolled over in the bed, opening my eyes against the bright sun. The clock told me I had slept far too late, but I didn’t care. It had taken me forever to go to sleep once I had left Amy’s house, her bombshell news nearly causing me to go out and drink.
I was going to be a father.
“Shit,” I said softly, rolling on my back.
A father. I hadn’t even thought about being a father in my lifetime, my own childhood having been so shitty that I didn’t want to replicate that for anyone else.
But there was nothing I could do about it now. I had done the crime, and it was time to do the time. The problem was that the girl I had impregnated was my father’s own worst enemy.
Sighing, I rubbed a hand wearily over my face. Amy’s reaction the previous night had both elated and worried me, and I had almost proposed to her right then and there. I wanted my kid to know both of his or her parents, with no question of whether or not there was love associated there. Hell, I loved Amy, and if life hadn’t been so damn complicated, we would already have been living together.
Still, though: now that I knew she was pregnant, it was my obligation to make sure she and our kid would be taken care of. I wanted her to have a fridge full of groceries, go to every doctor’s appointment, and to be there when the kid kicked her for the first time. I wanted it all, including Amy herself.
That was something my mom hadn’t had, no matter what kind of person she had been. I remember once asking her who my dad was and her response.
***
I opened the screen door and ran into the apartment, the smell of cigarette smoke mixed with the stale air.
“Ma! I’m home!”
She walked out of the kitchen, her cigarette perched on her red lips.
“Have a good day Eric?”
I nodded, slinging my book bag onto the couch.
“No homework.”
She nodded, leaning against the doorway, clutching her robe together. I was surprised to see her awake at this time of the afternoon, given that she hadn’t come in until right before I had gotten ready to go to school. Even at the age of twelve, I knew what she did to put food on the table, and while I wanted her to quit, I didn’t give her any lip about it.
“Guess what.”
“What?” she asked.
I drew in a breath.
“Parents day is at school tomorrow. You think you can come to that one? They are gonna let you eat lunch with me.”
Her eyes dimmed, and I knew it was an automatic ‘no’. She never came to anything at the school, saying it wasn’t her thing, but I knew the real reason. She didn’t want them all staring at her. Everyone knew who she was and what she did at night. I had been teased more than once about it.
“I would like to Eric, I really would, but I have this thing tomorrow. I’m sorry.”
I tried not to show her how much it hurt.
“Yeah, whatever. It’s fine.”
She came over and enveloped me in a hug, the smell of her perfume like a cloud around me.
“I’m sorry. I will fix your favorite meal tonight, what about that? I don’t have to work.”
I pushed away from her.
“Sure Ma. That sounds good.”
She pushed her long, blonde hair out of her face, a peculiar expression showing in her features.
“You’re mad at me.”
I waved a hand at her. I wasn’t no baby. I could eat lunch by myself.
“No Ma, I’m not. You got stuff to do.”
She dragged a hand over her face, tears shimmering in her eyes. I braced myself for her tears, knowing that they would be coming any minute now. If my mom didn’t do anything else right, she could make you feel like an asshole with her crying.
“I’m trying my damn best Eric! I can’t… I’m a single parent, you know, and if I don’t work, you don’t eat.”
I stared at her.
“Why don’t you call my dad?”
One kid at school had told me that his dad had to pay child support because he had knocked up his mom.
She let out a harsh laugh, hardness replacing the tears in her eyes.
“Your father has no interest in you, trust me. He’s an asshole, Eric, and don’t you forget it.”
“Who is he?” I pressed.
She had never once said his name that I could remember. Maybe, if I could find him, he would be willing to give my mom some money or come back so we could be a family.
Her eyes narrowed, and she grabbed me by the back of my neck, her fingers biting into my skin.
“Don’t ever ask about him. He’s not worth your breath Eric. You understand me?”
I nodded vigorously, and she let me go, leaving the room without another word.
***
I shook out of the memory, still feeling her fingers pressing into my neck even after all this time. It was one of the only times my mom had hurt me, the only other time being when she had been drunk and accidently hit me when I asked her where she had been. Despite her own evils, she had attempted to give me the life that she thought I needed, and after her death it had taken me a few years to understand the sacrifices she had made for me.
But my kid would know who their parents were, even if I had to face Grant Travis to make that happen.
And maybe I should make that apparent to Amy today.
Throwing the covers aside, I climbed out of bed and got dressed quickly. Amy and I were going to discuss this today and make a plan to break the news to her father.
Maybe this would be the thing that ended all this shit between my father and hers.
I slid my boots on and grabbed my jacket, walking to the front door. As soon as I opened it, I stopped in my tracks as a petite blonde smiled up at me.
“Hello Eric.”
“Jenny,” I stated, looking around behind her. “What are you doing here?”
She pursed her lips, a perfect red pout.
“I’m here to see you silly. It’s been a while.”
I took one look at her, from the top of her blonde head to the curvaceous body that she had squeezed into a pair of jeans and low-cut top, and wanted to shut the door in her face.
Jenny and I had a volatile relationship, one that hadn’t started out that way. Before Amy, I had brought her home a few times, but then she had cheated on me and I had broken it off without looking back. I didn’t like a cheater, and if I was going to keep my dick in my pants, I expected her to keep her legs closed.
“I don’t think we have anything to say to each other, Jenny.”
She let out a husky laugh, her red-tipped finger running down my chest lightly.
“Oh, come on, Eric. Don’t be like that! I told you I was sorry about that night.”
I stepped back, not wanting her to touch me.
“You mean while you had another asshole’s dick in your mouth?”
She colored, crossing her arms over her chest.
“You don’t have to be so crude about it.”
Chuckling, I tossed my keys in my hand.
“Just telling the truth sweetheart. So, I will ask you again, what you are doing here?”
“I’m here because I heard you got shot, and I wanted to make sure you were okay,” she answered, a hint of concern in her expression. “Daddy said you are something else lately.”
I sighed inwardly. Jenny’s father was the head of the Teutonic Brotherhood and someone that my own father told me I needed to get in with. It was the reason that Jenny and I had hooked up in the first place.
“Your father is going to get us all killed.”
“So is yours,” she fired back, stepping toward me.
I didn’t move as she slid a hand up my arm with familiarity, her fingers dancing across my shoulder.
“We are quite the pair, Eric. I say we crank it up again. You know I love you and am the only person who understands. Don’t shut me out.”
I removed her arm from my shoulder, gripping it lightly in my hand.
“I didn’t shut you out Jenny. You did that all on your own.”
Her pout deepened.
“Didn’t you care for me just a little bit?”
I released her hand, itching to get away from her.
“Maybe, but I guess we will never know, will we?”
Jenny frowned, her eyes flashing angrily.
“You know the only reason I am here is because you need me. You need me Eric and don’t say you don’t.”
There was a time I thought I needed her. Back when my father joined the Brotherhood, it was apparent that her father didn’t like me. I questioned his actions too much, was what she had told me, and me being young, I could be a threat that would tear apart what he had built. I had no intentions of doing that, but now I wished I had walked away then. The Brotherhood was dangerous, and in the last few months I had wondered if I wasn’t playing with my life.
“Things change Jenny.”
She let out a growl of frustration and stomped away.
I watched her climb in her car and drive away before I let out a breath, glad that she was gone. Sure, there had been a time when I had enjoyed Jenny’s company. It was clear that she had grown up around the Brotherhood and the things she could do… they weren’t natural but had been learned from experience. I wouldn’t call her a whore, but Jenny had been around the block a time or two.
Still, she had made me feel like I was someone important, that I could be loved regardless of my background or who my father was. Up until I had caught her in that car that night, she had made me happy.
But all that was in the past. I didn’t feel anything for her any longer, not like I felt for Amy, and it had nothing to do with Amy being pregnant with my kid. Those feelings had been there long before I knew that small piece of news that had rocked my world.
Once I was satisfied that Jenny had gone, I walked out of the house and shut the door, locking it behind me. I wanted to make sure that Amy was taking care of herself and our kid, and by the looks of her pitiful fridge, she wasn’t doing any of that.
Well, I was going to step in, no matter what she wanted me to do. I was going to be that person she could count on, the one that was going to be the provider for my family.
She would just have to deal with it.